A MOTHER of three is pretrified that her youngest daughter’s eyeball could soon fall out as she is suffering from a rare eye condition.
Ndinelao Shaambeni (25) was gutted when Ndahekelekwa Ingashipola was diagnosed with a rare condition called exophthalmos proptosis, which causes her left eye to bulge, when she was only a month old.
Shaambeni, who lives in Windhoek’s Okruyangava informal settlement, says she noticed the now two-year-old Ingashipola’s left eye was different from her right eye when she was born.
“Her left eye was slightly bigger than the right eye, but I did not at any point think it would be a serious condition,” she says.
Shaambeni says after diagnosis she did not take her daughter to the hospital again, accepting her daughter’s condition as something she will have to live with.
The young mother says she woke up to the biggest shock of her life when she recently noticed her daughter’s eyeball was exceptionally large.
“I noticed her eyeball was [pushing] out. I rushed her to the Black Chain clinic, where they told me to take her to the Windhoek Central Hospital rather. We got there and got some medication and paracetemol to help with the pain and swelling,” she says.
She says she went home, hoping her daughter’s eye would improve, but it did not.
The unemployed Shaambeni is currently three months pregnant and stays with her 59-year-old retired uncle at Okurangava, Katutura, in the capital.
“I am pleading for the removal of my daughter’s eye because the doctor said if the condition worsens it could affect both eyes. I am afraid she will go completely blind. This eye does not only make her life a living hell, it also terrifies people. They consider her as non-human,” she says.
Shaambeni says she cannot find work, because she cannot leave her daughter with anyone.
She says she cannot allow the toddler to play with other children, for fear of them damaging her eye.
Ingashipola currently only has sight in her one eye, Shaambeni believes.
She says she cannot afford an eye-removal operation and is therefore pleading with readers to help replace her daughter’s eye with an artificial one.
“Rather she has no eye than having a big eyeball hanging out with so much pain,” Shaambeni says.
Her uncle, Fernandu Mwatiyanye, says Ingashipola’s condition affects her psychologically as well.
“Last week we took her to the hospital because she was crying and holding on to things. She was so terrified she was not even crying normally,” he says.
He says there are days that the family does not sleep at all when the toddler’s eye starts hurting.
Mwatiyanye is also unemployed and cannot contribute to Ingashipola’s medical expenses.
He says both Ingashipola’s parents depend on him for food and other necessities.
“We are just pleading for her eye to be removed, and I am sure she will live a happier life,” he says.
According to the former minister of health and social services, Dr Bernard Haufiku, proptosis involves the popping out of the eyeball, which is usually caused by a tumour behind the eyeball.
“Normally when it is diagnosed and treated, the child can recover very well and live a normal life,” he says.
Haufiku urged Shaambeni to take Ingashipola to hospital again.
“When a healthcare professional tells you to go back to the hospital for a follow-up, then I strongly advise that you do so – especially for a serious case such as this one,” Haufiku says.
He says nurses and doctors should learn how to communicate with patients compassionately.
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